This invention relates to scoring the shell of shell fish to facilitate the removal of the shell and, more particularly, to apparatus for scoring the shell of a crab claw or the like.
The claws of so-called Snow Crab are processed for later use as a food by cooking and freezing them while still in the shell. The claws are then served as so-called "cocktail claws" after the shell covering the main body has been removed to expose the meat. In one typical process for removing the shell, a peripheral cut or score is made through the shell while the claw is still frozen, the claw soaked in hot water and the end portion of the shell opposite to the pincers is then slipped off to expose the meat. For best results, the score in the shell should be as smooth as possible in order to minimize jagged edges which might cut the consumer's lips and should extend only through the shell so as to prevent damage to the meat.
Heretofore, a manual procedure usually has been used to score unshelled claws of Snow Crab. That is, the opposite ends of the claw are held by hand and are manually rotated in a trough-like device including a groove through which a circular saw blade protrudes. The claws of a Snow Crab are relatively very small and this operation can be quite dangerous because of the close proximity of the operator's fingers to the saw blade. Oftentimes an irregular cut is produced because the operator must "eyeball" the cut during rotation in order to match up the final cut with the starting point.
The claws of Alaskan King Crab are somewhat larger; however, the shell is quite brittle and is covered with numerous lumps. Consequently, it is more difficult to hold and properly rotate by hand to obtain the desired scoring. Furthermore, the lumps require a larger portion of the saw blade to be exposed in order to insure that the score is made completely through the cut, creating an even more hazardous condition for the operator.